Sen. President John Morse is facing a recall election. (AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post)

From phone calls to “unsavory” postcards in the mail, Barbi Brown on Monday said she’s been the subject of alleged intimidation on the part of backers of Senate President John Morse in a recall effort to oust the state lawmaker from office.

“They’ve called me and said people have changed their minds and I should take my name off the recall list,” said Brown, 81, who lives in an apartment in Senate District 11 near Memorial Park. “I said, ‘No way!'”

Brown was among about a dozen constituents of Morse who said Monday they’ve received phone calls from officials with A Whole Lot of People for John Morse — the group backing the state lawmaker — urging them to withdraw their names from petitions.

Organizers with the El Paso Freedom Defense Committee in June had 10,137 signatures verified by the secretary of state’s office — more than enough to spark a recall of Morse, an El Paso County Democrat. The group insists signers of the petition are a rich mix of Democrats, Republicans and unaffiliated voters, upset with Morse for his support of tougher gun control measures that take effect Monday.

“Senator Morse is so desperate to keep his seat that now no one is exempt from the harassment; it ranges across party lines as well as demographic lines,” said Jennifer Kerns, a spokeswoman for the Basic Freedom Defense Fund — which partners with the El Paso Freedom Defense Committee. “It appears that he will attempt to silence your voice if you are among Republicans, Democrats, Independents, senior citizens, women, and the infirm.”

If you want to know the definition of grassroots, don’t ask the folks attempting to recall Senate President John Morse or his supporters who want the recall to fail.

Senate President John Morse, a Colorado Springs Democrat. (Ed Andrieski, The Associated Press)

They have widely different opinions on what is a grassroots movement as evidenced by their statements this week when recall signatures were turned into the secretary of state. Recall backers collected twice as many signatures as needed to force a special election.

If enough signatures are deemed valid and a court challenge of that ruling fails, voters in Morse’s El Paso County district will likely decide in September whether to oust the Colorado Springs Democrat for his support of gun-control measures and his leadership style.

Here are the statements from Christy Le Lait, campaign manager for A Whole Lot of People for John Morse, and Robert Harris, one of three people who filed the recall petition:

Lynn Bartels thinks politics is like sports but without the big salaries and protective cups. The Washington Post's "The Fix" blog has named her one of Colorado's best political reporters and tweeters.

Joey Bunch has been a reporter for 28 years, including the last 12 at The Denver Post. For various newspapers he has covered the environment, water issues, politics, civil rights, sports and the casino industry.